Forever Family
by hiraikoneko
Summary: Many people will tell you Akiko is the weirdest kid in the world. They're right. Yet she somehow manages to pull the most broken people back together, and gather them all up into a mess she calls family. She's not just after family...she's after the future. Her dreams are nightmares of the future...A future she needs to change. 'She' would have wanted it that way. OCx? SI
1. Prologue

_**So, I've decided to write another Naruto fanfic after the first few shrivelled up and died on me...**_

_**Anyway, I own nothing but my OCs, the rest belongs to Masashi Kishimoto~!**_

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**Forever Family**

**Prologue**

A small, very, very, small girl toddled into the room, tears rolling down her face. Her mother, a woman known as Uchiha Himawari, quickly moved to scoop up the girl. Himawari was thankful that she hadn't started wailing like most children would have.

The woman cast a somewhat embarrased look towards her brother-in-law, the head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku, and his wife, Mikoto.

The toddler gripped her mother's shoulder, nuzzling her head into the woman's neck. The other people in the room could hear the girl quietly mumbling, her voice fading in and out of audibility.

"Ita'...why Ita'...bloo..."

"Shush." Himawari cooed to her daughter, rocking the rambling toddler to sleep, "It was just another dream...go to sleep Akiko."

The girl was out in a few moments.

"Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san...would you do us the homour of being Akiko's god-parents? I would understand if you said no."

Mikoto looked delighted by the idea. After all, she had been gifted with two sons...and while she loved them, she had always wanted a little girl. Akiko was a little angel. Although she had nightmares almost every night, the girl always seemed very happy. Her sons loved the girl, who visited them often, as they were her cousins...by law.

Mikoto looked towards her husband, silently hoping he would agree. She really did want to be an important part of Akiko's life...

When Fugaku heard his sister-in-law say this, he had wanted to protest. She wasn't even an Uchiha. What would his clan think of him, agreeing to take in _that_ child?

His eyes flickered to his wife, who looked so happy and delighted. She clearly wanted the girl. He couldn't deny that Akiko did have good blood, and she was a promising child...and Mikoto looked like she could have died from happiness.

The Head Uchiha sighed before nodding once. Himawari grinned in delight, and his wife smiled brightly.

His wife frowned slightly a moment later, "Himawari-san...why are you looking for god-parents for little Akiko?"

The younger woman took in a smal breath, closing her blue eyes, "My health is failing me."

Mikoto looked at her in concern, but remained silent so Himawari could continue. They had all known she wasn't well.

"I have at least another year...year and a half. I intend to have everything ready for Aki-chan...which is why I will let you back out of this decision after I explain a few things to you."

"Why would we back out?" Mikoto asked, "We'd love to take care of her."

Himawari shook her head, her yellow hair swaying from side to side, "No...You'll think about it...I want to tell you about her nightmares..."

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_**Please review and tell me what you think! This was just a spur-of-the-moment-had-way-too-much-time-on-my-hands-kinda-thing, but I hope to keep it alive!**_


	2. 1:The Boy

**Chapter One: The Boy**

"Mama!"

Uchiha Akiko sat up in her bed, her brown eyes wide with terror. Images of her nightmare continued to play; giant snakes tearing through the village, and on the horizon, even larger beasts battled against one another. All around...people laid dead, and there was nothing the child could do to stop it.

Himawari walked into the room, picking up her daughter and softly comforted the girl. She rocked her daughter back and forth repeating the mantra she always had, ever since her daughter had first started having these nightmares.

"It's just a dream. It's just a dream."

But to Akiko, it wasn't. Dreams were meant to be nice and sweet...those 'dreams' were nightmares.

It was early morning, so Himawari saw no point in trying to coax the three-year old in her arms to sleep.

Her daughter had always been smart. She learnt to speak quiet early, although the toddler still had the habit of babbling random gibberish...gibberish that formed a pattern. It amused her to listen to it...it sounded like her little girl had created a new language for herself.

The young woman walked into her dining room, placing Akiko in her highchair. After they were fed and dressed, the two headed out into town, Himawari holding her daughter's hand while the red haired girl stood on her already steady feet.

* * *

Himawari had made it a habit of spoiling her daughter on the days when the nightmares continued to haunt her child through the day. Today was one of those days. It was all she could do. After all, there wasn't much time left.

It pained the woman to see her daughter shaking in fear, her small hand gripping her mother's so hard it almost hurt.

Himawari lead her daughter through the Uchiha compound, ignoring the way people stared at them. It wasn't Akiko's fault...or her own.

When Himawari had been a late teenager, she had gone on a mission that went bad. She had attempted to seduce a target...and she paid the price.

In the end, she was pregnant with her attacker's child. She never once thought about getting rid of the baby...through adoption, or any other mean.

Himawari had once belonged to a relatively strong clan in Konoha, but their numbers had dwindled town until it was only her.

She had been pregnant when she realized she was in love with her long time squad member, Uchiha Toshiro. They had been in the same genin squad...always got promoted together...it wasn't long after they confessed to each other that they were married.

While some people in the clan disapproved, Toshiro had always stood by his wife...but they hadn't been married long.

It was just after Akiko was born that the Kyuubi attacked...and Toshiro was sent out to help fight off the nine-tailed fox...and he was killed.

Himawari did her best not to think about it. Instead, she pulled her daughter along until they were far from the compound and walking among the civilians.

They found their favourite toy store where children could get anything from stuffed rabbits to fake kunai.

It never bothered Himawari that her daughter steered away from toys meant for shinobi children. Her daughter dealt with enough violence in her sleep.

She hoped the girl would stay away from the shinobi life-style...

Her daughter paused in front of a shelf of stuffed animals. A distant smile crept across Akiko's face before she gently plucked a stuffy from the group.

Himawari almost gasped when she saw her daughter clinging to a stuffed fox. She shook it off smoothly, giving her daughter a smile, knowing that her daughter had found the fox cute...and it had nothing to do with the beast that killed Toshiro.

* * *

As they left the toy store, Akiko seemed to vanish into thin air. Her mother paused, looking around for her little girl. Her daughter had always been fast...for a three year old.

"AKIKO!" Himawari called.

Her daughter hadn't gone that far at all. Instead, she had crossed the street where a park was. She didn't care about the park. She cared about the little boy who was sitting all by himself. He was her age...and she knew kids their age shouldn't be alone.

There could be creepy people, even here in the village.

She had seen the boy before...when she and her mother had strolled past the orphanage. This boy was an orphan.

She wouldn't know what she would do without her Mama.

She looked at the boy, tilting her head. Maybe she and her Mama could keep him.

Her mother caught sight of her across the street and darted over to her, quickly picking up her daughter, "Akiko, don't worry my like that!"

Akiko only shrugged, as though that was an acceptable answer, before she pointed to the blond boy who sat on a swing all by himself. His blue eyes were sad as he stared at other children playing with their friends.

Himawari felt her heart stop. It was 'THAT' boy. People in the village avoided him for a reason. Her daughter was beginning to scare her...first...she had chosen that toy fox...then...she had found 'THAT' child.

The blond woman wanted to know what her daughter had dreamed this time...she always had a strange ability to know who other children were...

Sasuke and Itachi...Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba...Aburame Shino...

Her daughter was gifted...So...

What did this have to do with 'THAT' child?

"W-What is it Aki-chan?" Her mother asked, somewhat shaken by it all.

"Can we keep him?"

Her mother couldn't help but laugh...despite the strangeness of it all. "Akiko...you can't..._keep_ a person."

"But I want him to live with us!" Her daughter whined. Somewhere in it though, Himawari could pick up the hidden panic.

Aki _NEEDED_ this boy to live with them. The boy _NEEDED_ to live with them.

_**Now.**_

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**_So, this is the first real chapter of the story...I hope you all enjoyed it. Please review, follow or favourite._**


	3. 2: Naruto

_**A great big thank-you goes out to Himeno Kazehito and kyuubi lover 98 for reviewing~!**_

_**I'd also like to thank everyone elso who favourited and followed this story!**_

**Chapter Two: Naruto**

(From Akiko's POV from now on)

My mama looked torn between letting me have the boy, and yelling 'NO'. Of course, my Mama hd never yelled at me...but she looked scared. That was odd. Usually I was the one who was scared.

The boy didn't look scary...Did he? No...I thought he looked kinda...Huggable. Like Kyo, my new Fox.

Well...I called him 'Kyo'...because something told me that calling him 'Kyuubi-kun' would have scared Mama a lot more than just wanting to keep a boy.

"Please, Mama, we need to take him in." I begged.

My mama still looked torn. I scowled at her, wiggling out of her arms and walking over to the boy. He was almost as small as me, but he was missing his chubbiness. Mama said it was healthy for little kids to be a little chubby.

"Hello." I said, grinning at the boy.

He flinched, looking at my with wide blue eyes. They were almost as pretty as Mama's...that was weird for a boy.

"H-Hi..." The boy said, looking everywhere but at me. His face was a little red.

"My name's Uchiha Akiko!" I grinned, before casting a gaze to my mama who looked a little less torn...more leaning to the more logical, happy option; letting me keep the blond boy with whiskers.

"I'm...Uzumaki Naruto ..."

"Nice to meet you!" I giggled loudly, before grabbing his arm and tugging him towards my Mama, "This is my mama. She's the nicest person in the whole-wide-world."

Mama was forced to look Naruto in the eye, and I knew I had won. We were taking him home. She seemed to melt as she stared him in the eyes, muttering something sadly under her breath before she smiled at the boy.

"Hello, Akiko, who's your little friend?" Mama asked, even though I knew she had heard.

"This is Naruto!" I introduced cheerfully.

"Well, hello there, Naruto." Mama greeted, "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

Naruto looked around, as though he thought this was a trap. That wouldn't do at all. He was going to be my new brother, and I wanted him to trust me...just like Sasuke trusted Itachi!

Reluctantly, he nodded. I giggled in glee before grabbing his and my mama's hands and pulling them with me down the street. There was this awesome ramen place down that way...Naruto liked ramen...I guessed.

He looked like he liked ramen...I LOVED ramen...Mama enjoyed ramen...so, we'd have ramen.

It was decided.

"Ramen, ramen. Ramen~!" I said in a sing song voice, to notify my mama as to where we were going.

Mama laughed softly, "Alright you two...After we have some ramen, we can go to the park and you two can play, alright?"

I nodded enthousiastically while Nauto nodded slowly, "Um...Akiko-chan...what's ramen?"

I was completely delighted to hear him call me Akiko-chan...it got rid of any awkwardness there would have been if he called me anything else...

Soon, I'd see if I could get him to call me sister.

Another thought hit me after he spoke. What had been that last thing he said...? He asked me...'What's ramen?'...

My eyes widened for a moment before I grinned, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Ramen, my friend, is the food of Gods."

My mama let out a very unlady-like snort, covering her mouth with her hand.

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

"WOAH!" Naruto exclaimed, quickly slurping up his ramen. I was glad he liked it. That meant we could go have ramen twice as often~!

"Told ya so." I said, happily pushing away my already empty bowl. My mama was on her third. Someday, I would be able to eat as much as her.

But for now...one bowl was good.

"So...Naruto..." I said, tilting my head at him, "Where's your parents? It's probably not a good idea for you to be all alone...there are creepy people."

I already knew he was an orphan...this just led to my idea.

He looked down at the table, "I don't have any..."

I grinned, "Then Naru-kun can live with us."

I said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. The people in the stand had been listening in the entire time, so I wasn't all that surprised when one lady dropped her chopsticks and the man cleaning the bowls looked up in surprise.

Mama seemed to have relaxed now that she knew Naruto. She agreed with me now. She had to.

Naruto stared at me. His jaw hung slightly open and his blue eyes were HUGE. My new brother really didn't believe me...did he? Well...He'd learn to trust me.

I giggled, "Well, Naruto? We could go to the Hokage Tower and speak to the Hokage about it...an' then, you can come to our house and live with us!"

Mama nodded behind me, snickering at Naruto's expression. Finally, he snapped out of it.

"R-REALLY?!"

"Yup." I closed my eyes and nodded cooly before opening them again and grabbing him by the arm, "TO THE HOKAGE TOWER!"

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**_So...this was another pretty short chapter...I'm nearly positive they all will be short...this will hopefully mean I can update often~! _**

**_Please Review, Fav and Follow._**

**_Hearing (reading, really.) your feed-back helps me write!_**


	4. 3: Stealth

**Chapter Three: Stealth**

I was not happy. We had been sitting here for hours. The stu- the _DUMB_ secretary lady wouldn't let us see the old ma- _The Hokage_...

Apparently, we weren't important. Or more correctly, anything to do with Naru-kun. Of course, she didn't say that, but it was pretty obvious. Even to a three year old.

Not that I was much of a three year old. People said I acted WAY older.

I didn't really like it when they said that. After all...didn't old people get all shrivelled up and spotty...and hairy...and they had HUUUUUGE noses.

I didn't want to get old.

I liked being little.

Of course...they also said I looked too young to be three.

That really didn't make any sense. I acted too OLD to be three and I looked to YOUNG to be three...so what did that make me?

A prune-person in a baby-body?

I DID NOT LIKE THIS!

"Um...Aki-chan..." My mama said calmly, poking me in the forehead, as she often did with Ita' and Sasuke.

I looked up at her, my hands flying up to cover my forehead, "Yeah?"

"Why don't you take Naruto to that toy store? You two can go pick out some more toys to play with." Mama suggested, smiling as she handed me some money. Her tone changed as she spoke again, "And remember what I told you about people trying to rip you off."

We shared a bit of an evil smirk.

Mama didn't naturally trust people. Especially the civilians. They liked trying to rip people off all the time. I had seen Naru-kun a few times before, and he was always being picked on. It wasn't nice.

"C'mon Naru-kun." I smiled, pulling the boy after me. I knew the real reason Mama was sending us away.

She was going to get scary.

"Um...Aki-chan, I don't think they'll let us into the store...at least...not with me..." Nau-kun said, looking at his feet as we walked.

I snickered, "Don't worry about it Naru-kun. See this crest?"

I pointed to the back of my dark blue dress, where the Uchiha crest was sown in. Naruto nodded.

"I'm an Uchiha. People treat us pretty well...But they don't really like Mama and I that much."

"Huh? Why not?"

"We don't look like the rest of them." I replied, "See...most people in my clan have dark hair and dark eyes, and they kinda stomp around with this pouty look on their faces after a certain age."

Naruto snickered as I showed him how some of my clan-mates walked.

"Even Ita-oniisan walks like that now. And he has these REEEEAAALLLYYY weird lines on his face like this," I used my fingers to draw the lines Itachi was getting the older he got. HE WAS SHRIVELLING UP ALREADY!

I heard someone cover a laugh from behind us. Spinning around, I saw none other than Itachi and Shisui.

My face went red and I stepped behind my soon to be brother. I smiled as cutely as I could at the two, "Oh...Hey Ita-oniisan...Shisui-niisan...nice to see you here...in public...where I'm safe..."

Naru-kun looked between me and the two but in front of us. He took a step back, that I quickly copied so he didn't trip over me.

"Hello Aki-chan." Itachi greeted. He didn't look all that mad, but you had to be careful around some folk...'cause...you know...they're all...'Nin-nin'.

"Who's your friend, Aki-chan?" Shisui asked. I tried no to stare at him for too long. Lately, I'd been having more nightmares...sometimes he was in them. I didn't like it when Itachi and Shisui were there...

"Ah, this is Uzumaki Naruto!" I introduced cheerfully as I moved out from behind him, "Naruto, this is Itachi-oniisan and Shisui-niisan."

"H-Hi." Naru-kun said shyly. Ah, it just wouldn't do. Eventually, he'd learn that anyone I was good with was a good person. ESPECIALLY Itachi-oniisan and Shisui-niisan.

"How come she respects you more?" Shisui asked Itachi after they greeted Naru-kun. I could tell they weren't comfortable around him.

I didn't get it. Was it the whisker-markings or something? Naru-kun was fabulous. No need to get all stiff. People really needed to get those brooms outta thei- People needed to be nicer to Naru-kun.

"Where are you two going?" Itachi asked, his eyes were moving through the crowd, trying to find Mama.

"To the toy store. Mama told us to go buy some toys while she talked to the Hokage." I answered, hugging Kyo tighter, to show we were looking for toys.

"Ah...I take it Himawari-obasan was getting frustrated with the wait?" Itachi asked, while the three of us shared a knowing look. Itachi never treated me like a baby. It was kinda nice...but he was one of the people who said I acted too old to be three.

He was on the Prune-people side.

I nodded cheerfully, "Anyways, we should be going now. I wanna get there before the store closes."

"We'll take you." Itachi said.

I grumbled. Itachi was way too protective. We arrived at the toy store after a few more minutes of walking. Naruto seemed hesitant about entering, so I grabbed his wrist and yanked him into the store behind me.

_Tanaka's Toys_ was a large toystore with a very friendly feel to it. It felt like a nice, family owned store -which it was- with a polished wooden floor and a warm paint

Almost instantly, the man behind the counter was making his way towards us with a fake smile. I really didn't like fakers.

"Good morning Tanaka-san!" I greeted, as though he wasn't about to try something stupid on us.

"Ah...Good morning Akiko-chan...I'm sorry, but we're about to close for the day...You and your..._friend_ will have to leave."

I snorted, much like Mama, stepping forward so I was between him and Naruto. I crossed my arms and gave him a cold, dead-eyed glare.

I snarled just like Mama would have, "_Listen, _Tanaka-_san_," I jabbed a finger into his chest, since he had leaned in to speak to me, "Naru-kun and _I_ are here, with Ita-oniisan and Shisui-niisan, to buy some toys. That sign in the window says this store will be opened for another _hour._ Now...I really hope you aren't telling us to get out of here for some _stupid, biased_ reason...right Tanaka-san? Other wise my Mama would be highly displeased."

Tanaka-san shifted slightly in a nervous manner. I crossed my arms again.

I kinda felt like a spoilt little kid, but hey...Until I learnt to be kick as- butt. I needed to use what ever power I had. AKA: Mama.

Behind me, I could hear Shisui-niisan speaking with Ita-oniisan. "Where the heck did she learn that?"

"Himawari-obasan. I've seen the lessons." Itachi replied quietly.

"Wow..." I heard Naru-kun say. I looked away from Tanaka-san to see him staring at all the toys. I sent another glare at Tanaka-san before I took off after my soon-to-be-brother.

"Naru-kun! Whaddya wanna get?" I asked as I came to walk beside him. Itachi and Shisui were looking at the toy kunai. They'd get it for Sasuke-nii. He was always getting stuck with those stu- _lame_ shinobi-children toys.

"I dunno..." He said, looking around at all the toys.

"I know!" I said cheerfully, "If we get a ball, we can play all sorts of games...like Soccer, and basketball and-"

"What's soccer and basketball?"

I giggled, "Don't worry Naru-nii. Aki-neechan will show you! Its lots of fun."

I felt three sets of eyes on my back. I turned to see Itachi, Shisui and Tanaka-san all staring at me as though I had grown an extra head.

I snickered before I went back to Naruto, "So...do you wanna be a ninja someday? 'Cause if you do, we could get some toy shurikan and kunai...that way, you'd be really awesome when its time for the academy..."

Naruto looked at me thoughtfully before he grinned. I must say, it was like I was staring at a living ray of sunshine. Naruto needed to smile like that all the time.

He looked warily at the other's in the store before he motioned for me to come closer. I leaned in and he whispered, "I'm going to become Hokage, just like Jiji."

I giggled not bothering to speak as quietly as him, "You'd make a great Hokage."

"Really?!" he asked loudly. I ggiggled again and nodded.

"C'mon, if you wanna be strong enough to be Hokage...we better start practicing now, right?"

Naruto nodded enthousiastically and we both ran for the ninja toys. We got one pack of kunai and another of shurikan, along with a ball. We took them to the counter for Tanaka-san to ring up.

I handed him the money, knowing he wasn't ripping us off. I was good enough at math to know how to add up my money.

It was a bit odd for someone my age, but my mama had drilled many things into my head as soon as she realized I was smart enough to handle them.

The four of us left the toy store. Ita-oniisan and Shisui-niisan had to head back home, so Naru-kun and I continued on out own towards the Hokage Tower.

I stopped Naru-kun just as we entered the building. "Now Naru-kun, today we will be working on our stealth. This is an important part of being a shinobi."

Naruto nodded with a determined look. I motioned for him to follow me quietly. I took off my sandles so I was walking with nothing but my socks. This reduced the noise I made with each step. Naruto copied me.

We padded almost silently towards the desk, where the secretary looked some what shaken. Mama had gotten her way.

Making sure we stayed out of the woman's sight, we stuck close to the walls. She was focused on her paper work, which helped greately.

I led Naru-kun down a hall and up a set of stairs. In front of us now was the Hokage's office. The door was HUUGE compared to me. But I wasn't trying to open the heavy wooden door. I looked up at the two ANBU guards stationed by the door.

I recognized them as Uchihas. I had spotted them entering and leaving the compound often enough to know it.

I waved cheerfully to them before putting an ear against the door. Naruto looked at the two nervously before he joined me.

"_-I want to adopt Naruto, I don't see what's so wrong about that._" Mama's voice was muffled slightly by the door, but I could hear her well enough.

"_Uchiha-san, it's not that simple...the Elders would assume it was a plot by your clan to-_"

"_Hokage-sama, I could give less of a damn what those old coots have to say or think. I have my reasons for wanted to take in the boy, but they aren't anything that would harm him. Honestly, I just want Akiko to have someone."_

_"Uch- Himawari. I can understand that but..."_

_"There is no but about it! I'm not leaving her alone in this world! She's my BABY! She needs someone to keep her company...At least Naruto can cheer her up, and I don't see how it would HARM him to have some sort of Parental care in his childhood."_

_"Have you even spoken to the boy?"_

_"I have. He's the cutest little boy I've ever met since Sasuke. That's another reason...he and Sasuke would be good together...Mikoto would love to take him in next year too..."_

_"Himawari...does your daughter even know yet?"_

_"Akiko- No...I haven't had the heart to tell her."_

I narrowed my eyes. This did not sound good. Why were they talking about me now? What happened to adopting Naru-kun?!

_"You'll have to...soon. There isn't much time left."_

_"I know but- She's been having trouble...she's had more nightmares...I don't want to cause her anymore unhapiness...not now..."_

_"Himawari, think of the happiness she'll have when you die next year and she'll have no idea why."_

It was right about then that my heart stopped beating. Naruto stared at me with wide blue eyes. I felt tears start flooding my eyes, but I stopped them. I glared coldly at the floor until the tears were gone.

I went back to listening.

"_I'll tell her. For now, can we just get back to Naruto-kun. Mikoto and I were friends with Kushina. She wanted her boy to be happy...Friends with Sasuke and Akiko...I want them to be together..all of them. Mikoto will take care of them...and Fugaku has already promised to take care of Akiko, no matter what the circumstances. He'll raise Naruto as well...You can make sure of that."_

_"To send Naruto into the main house of any clan would cause an uproar in their ranks..."_

_"My family will get over it. Just tell me, would it be any better if we just left that poor boy alone on the streets? The orphanage isn't taking care of him properly. If they were, we wouldn't have found a three year old wandering the streets by himself."_

The Hokage sighed, "_Fine...but I expect you to explain this to the Uchiha clan..._"

"_I will._"

I grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him after me down the stairs. Once we were at the bottom, I put my shoes back on. We made a show of stomping happily up the stairs, just as Mama stepped out of the Hokage's office.

The two ANBU shared looks...which I guessed was pretty Nin-Nin, considering they were wearing those definitely-not-out-of-season-festival-masks.

"What did...'Jiji' say?" I asked, copying Naru-kun's way of addressing the most powerful man in the village.

Mama grinned, "We're taking Naruto home."

Naru-kun and I high-fived each other. I gave him a large smile before ruffling his blond hair, "Welcome to the family Naru-nii!"

"Hey!" Naruto yelled playfully, before he messed up my own red-orange hair. I pouted, trying to pull the long strands back into some form of order.

My hair looked completely red unless it was brought into the sun light. Then, you could see that there were strands of in it.

Mama took both of our hands and led us back to the compound. Things, I could tell, were about to get nastier than ever.

* * *

**_Thank you Himeno Kazehito for reviewing again!_**

**_I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I didn't really mean for it to be this long but hey...2 000 isn't THAAT bad. Coulda been like...4 000._**

**_Anyways~ Please review! _**


	5. 4: Nasty

**Chapter Four: Nasty**

It did. I felt Mama pull me and Naru-kun closer to her as she picked up her pace until we were practically running along side her.

My clan mates stopped to stare at us with narrowed eyes, intensified by the presence of Naru-kun. Once again, everyone seemed to hate him.

A man, who's name I didn't know, approached Mama, "What do you think you're doing, bringing that _thing_ in here? It's bad enough you kept the first one."

My Mama met his gaze with a cool look on her face, she smiled, "Well, I'm bringing him home. He needs a nice place to stay."

Then, she dropped the smile and seemed to flicker forward until she was standing directly in front of him, _"And if you ever say another word about my little girl...I will personally paint this compound in. Your. Blood."_

"IT CAN'T STAY HERE!" Someone shouted, completely missing the blunt threat my Mama gave the man before them. Adults sure were stupid.

"My _SON_ can stay where ever the hell I want him to stay."

I took Naru-kun's hand and pulled him along. Mama was about to get scary again, "C'mon Naru-kun...I'll show you our home. You'll have to share a room with me for now...until we can get you your own bed..."

I reached into the pocket of me dress, pulling out a small smoke bomb my Mama gave me for times like this. We got stopped a lot.

I pulled Naruto after me. People tried to grab us, but I was a master at weaving through their hands. I pulled Naruto after me before throwing down the smoke bomb. People coughed on the smoke, moving away in surprise. Mama was sure to lace it with a number of bad smelling things. That way, any shinobi who relied on their sense of smell for tracking was pretty scre- I mean at a disadvantage.

Well...most ninja had strong senses of smell...so even if they weren't trackers, they still got kinda hurt.

I lead Naruto into an alley way. We went along until it ended. We passed Sasuke-nii's house, and I stopped, seeing Sasuke-nii playing in the yard- actually...he was trying to practice throwing kunai.

"SASUKE!" I called, pulling my brother along behind me.

Sasuke looked over at us and smiled to me, before looking towards Naruto in confusion. "Hey Aki-chan...who's that?"

"Ah!" I said happily, "This is my new brother. Uzumaki Naruto," I turned to Naruto, "This is my not-brother, Uchiha Sasuke."

A frown slipped across my face, and my heart clenched painfully. Sasuke-nii was my not-brother right now...but by next year...Mama would be...and Naru-kun and I would live with...

I tightened my hold on Naru-kun's hand.

I didn't react like a normal little kid...this was one of those moments when everyone was right...I was a Prune-Person in a little kid's body. I knew I should be crying...and clinging to Mama right now but...The pain was dim, as though it was unimportant. That was wrong though. Mama was the most important person in my world. She WAS my world...

"You got a brother? I thought they had to be babies first...That's what Itachi-oniisan said anyways..."

Naruto and I giggled, hiding all the negativity in my mind, "Mama just adopted Naru-kun. He's my brother now."

"Oh!" Sasuke nodded his dark eyes wide. He was a bit taller than me...which was annoying.

Naru-nii and I smiled brightly at him, before I brought myself back to focus, "Um...Sasuke...If any adults other than Mama come by looking for us...can you tell them Naru-nii and I went the other way?"

Sasuke looked at me nervously, "Did you get in trouble again?"

"No!" I said, a bit loudly, shaking my head, "It's just the grown ups being stupid."

Sasuke nodded again. He totally got it. I was worried about getting older. Adults were always so dumb. They never saw what was right in front of them.

After quickly saying good-bye to Sasuke, I lead Naruto to our home. It was a small building with a pretty garden in the front. Mama often visited the Yamanaka flowershop when she bougth lots of useful plants.

The bedrooms were upstairs on the second floor, right beside each had a spare room that Mama used as an art studio. I knew it would be changed into Naru-nii's room...if we had the chance before...

* * *

As soon as my bed room door was closed, I let out the first few tears.

Naruto looked panicked, not knowning what to do. I patted the spot beside me on the bed. My brother sat beside me stiffly...but it was enough.

I tackled him, hugging him tightly. I tried not to cry...but it was hard. I knew I'd have to stop before Mama made it here. I couldn't lie to her face...and she would probably guess what it was that bothered me...she'd realize I had been listening in.

"Aki-chan...it's okay. You'll be okay..." Naru-kun said, although I knew he was feeling incredibly awkward. I tried to stop crying. There was no need for me to freak out my brother on his first day with us.

Eventually, I squashed the tears, reminding myself that Mama could die in a much worse way. From what I had understood in that conversation...she was sick. Otherwise, there would have been no way for her to predict her own death.

She could have died like the people in my dreams.

* * *

When Mama came home, Naru-kun and I were throwing our toy kunai. I had a better idea of what to do, since Ita-oniisan and Shisui-niichan had made me and Sasuke-nii practice all the time.

"No, don't throw it like that. Itachi-oniisan says you'll cut open your hand like that. You need to throw it like this." I positioned the kunai properly and threw it at the picture of a target we had drawn and taped to the wall.

The toy kunai flew straight and bounced off one of the inner rings of the target.

Naruto and I cheered when he managed to get it in the same ring not long after. High-fiving, we spun around hearing Mama giggled.

We turned to look at her, tilting our heads. She had a number of cuts and bruises. Her shirt had a few singes around the edges and her hair was noticably shorter.

"Mama!" I said, voice full of concern. Naruto and I ran up to her to make sure she was alright...although Naruto hung back slightly.

That would not do at all.

Mama wrapped her arms around me in a hug. We looked over to the third member of our family and motioned for him to join us in unison.

I was happy things weren't as bad as they could have been. I don't know what I'd have done if someone had really hurt her.

I'd probably have tried and failed to kill them. I was just a useless kid after all.

* * *

_**Ah, this had nothing to do with the story, but just today I went to my first anime convention at Anime North. It was AMAZING~! There were so many people...**_

_**O**__**f course, I come from a school with only a couple hundred...**_

_**Anyways~!**_

_**Big thank you goes out to Himeno Kazehito for reviewing once again!**_

_**Please review and tell me what you think!**_


	6. 5: Mind Training

**Chapter Five: Mind Training**

Naruto and I did our best. He'd only been with us for three days, but they'd been the best days of my life. For the first time in my life, I had slept a full night without waking up screaming. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that I had my brother beside me now.

I was safe, curled up beside him at night. The feeling of someone else there helped. Mama had tried this...but it hadn't worked before. I'm not sure why.

It was on the forth night that I was hit with another nightmare. It was worse than all the others...as though the previous three nights' worth of nightmares had piled up into one.

_The land around me was flat and dead. There was nothing growing from the earth. What wasn't a flat expanse was scarred with signs of powerful jutsus. Deformed mounds of rocks...charred, cracked dirt and stone._

_All around me, bodies littered the ground...people in headbands I didn't recognize. Not from Suna, Iwa, Konoha, Kumo or Kiri. Not even Ame._

_The sky was dark and everything was silent around me. However, in the distance, I could hear the sounds of fighting. I didn't want to look closer, I tried not to. I was pulled towards the scene. A monster rose up into the sky like it was trying to reach the moon._

_There were more bodies all around. People lay as empty husks...drained of everything._

_The dream shifted, and I watched as a boy walked into his home, to find his father dead._

_Again the dream shifted. I saw people running across a battle field, fighting their family...all because of one man._

_Another shift brought me to the Uchiha compound. I wasn't there long, but I saw my family dead._

_I was outside the academy, seeing Naruto sitting on a swing alone. I came closer to him, but as I did, he changed. I reached out to him, but he fell off the swing, limp. He looked older than before, but it was him. Those pretty blue eyes were so blank-_

_Suddenly it was Mama I was staring at. I had never had a nightmare about Mama before._

It was enough to pull me out.

I let out a shuttering, desperate gasp for air as I sat up, pulling away from my brother. I rolled off the bed and sat on the floor. I shivered in fear, scratching at my arms, trying to distract myself with pain.

I slowly dragged myself to my feet and padded out of the room. I moved to the back door and stood out in our fenced in back yard. I plopped down under the tree in the center of the yard and closed my eyes.

I focused on the feeling of my chakra buzzing under my skin. I had never gotten used to the feeling. I knew I was supposed to not feel this...it shouldn't have bothered me at all...

But it didn't feel _right_.

I practiced pushing the chakra around through me limbs. Eventually, I picked up a leaf and placed it on my forehead.

I knew this was dangerous, and my reserves weren't very large...considering I was three.

It had taken me a while to get the right amount of chakra into the leaf, but now I had managed to make the leaf stick.

The chakra practice and meditation I did afterwards always helped...if I stopped thinking completely, there was no way for me to remember the nightmares.

Meditation would also help my chakra reserves. I thought maybe, if I started expanding them now, they would be even larger by the time I was old enough to become a genin.

Well...there was also the possibility of war. Mama had always told me about politics and she had decided I should always know Konoha's relationship with the other villages. Earth and Cloud hated our guts, and we were on rocky grounds with Suna...Mist was having enough troubles that they weren't much of a threat...

I mostly had nightmares of Suna...just a dead body or two wearing the Suna headband, laying in the streets of Konoha. Nothing overly bad- Oh who was a kidding!?

I needed help.

A lot of help.

I told Mama...but she said not to worry.

I never understood that though. Shouldn't she be worried when her three-year-old saw dead people every time she fell asleep?!

I let out a sigh, opening my eyes. There was no point in trying to meditate tonight. Nodding to myself, I went back inside and crawled into bed, curling up with my new brother.

Naruto let out a little grumble, before he opened his eyes slightly. I closed mine and moved even closer to him.

"Wha...? Aki..."

"I had a nightmare." I whispered, not looking up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

I didn't, but there was no point in hiding it...I didn't want to have wasted his sleep.

"Everyone I care for died." I said quietly, "Mama...everyone in the clan...You."

My brother pulled my closer to him. I needed hugs more often, I decided then. It felt safe.

"Don't worry. I'm going to be Hokage someday...I can't die before then. You'll be stuck with me forever." He said. I giggled quietly. Talking to him settled my nerves.

"You're right." I said, "Good night Naru-kun."

"Good night Aki-chan."

* * *

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

* * *

"Mama!" I called, skipping into her room. My Mama looked up from her desk, quickly closing a MASSIVE scroll.

"Yes Akiko-chan, Naruto-kun?" She asked, looking at the two of us, smiling sweetly.

"Well...um..." Naru-kun stuttered, looking embarrassed. I snickered.

"Naru-kun and I wanna learn to be ninjas! Could you teach us?" I asked.

My Mama's lips twitched down at the corners for a moment, before she let out a sad sigh. Her eyes drifted shut for a moment and when they opened again, she had what I liked to call 'The World is Mine to Destroy' expression.

It was like determination, times infinity.

Suddenly, I found myself regretting asking her...but since she had the TWMD look on...I knew we were stuck.

* * *

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

* * *

We stood in the garden, watching as Mama ran over some basics with us. We needed to focus on stretching. She said it was because we were so young.

We weren't able to do the hard-core flying kicks and stuff, but if we stretched often and stayed fit, we would be able to when we got older.

"Now, right now, all you two can do is stretch, memorize katas and keep yourselves active...however...If you were to focus on your book smarts now...it would give you more time in the future to train. When you get older, you'll be able to push yourselves more, and do more." Mama said.

Naru-kun did not look happy. I smiled sadly, shaking my head at him.

"What?" He whispered to me. I face-palmed before putting it more simply.

"We're little kids. We can only stretch right now. So, we'll be strengthening our minds first."

"Does this mean we have to read and stuff?"

I nodded, looking overly traumatized, "Alas, it is true!"

"What does 'Alas' mean?"

I face-palmed again before muttering to myself in my secret language, "**_This is going to be a pain in the ass._**"

Mama looked over to me, "Akiko, what have I told you about speaking in code?"

I looked away sheepishly, "Sorry Mama."

"Wah! You have your own code language?!" Naruto asked me loudly.

I nodded, feeling incredibly proud of myself, "Yep. I even have a written version of it."

"Did you name it yet?"

"Yeah. I call it 'Sammy'."

" 'Sammy'...? What does that mean?"

I frowned, looking troubled, "I don't know...it just comes up a lot when I'm thinking of what to say in code..."

"Oh...Could you teach me?" He asked, suddenly looking incredibly happy at the thought.

I grinned, "Yeah! When we go to the academy, we could totally keep people from listening in on our conversations!"

My Mama was chuckling by now, but she eventually called our attention, "Alright you two, lets do some stretches."

After we spent an entire HOUR stretching, Mama told us to play tag and hide and seek. Something told us it was more than just a game, now that we were going to follow the path of ninjas.

* * *

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

* * *

"Alright...we'll started with reading. Now...Naruto-kun...how much have they taught you at the orphanage?" Mama asked my brother.

"They didn't really teach me anything...no one talked to me..." He frowned.

"Well, I guess we'll have to fix that, won't we?" Mama asked with a grin, placing her hand on his head.

Naruto and I nodded. Looking over at him, I could see his face was turning red, and there were little, ity-bity tears in his eyes.

Now that I thought about it, he looked a lot like Mama. He was lucky for that. I didn't look like either of them. I had red-orangish hair and brown eyes while Naruto and Mama both had blond hair and pretty blue eyes.

Mama pulled a small chalkboard out of the hallway closet. I don't know how it fit in there...but I bet there was a seal for that.

It was like it was bigger on the inside!

...

...

...

Somehow, that sentence felt way more important than it should have.

I watched as Mama started from the basics, just for Naru-kun. I didn't say a word about already knowing this.

Learning had always come easily...I understood writing pretty easily...but 'Sammy' was soooooo much easier for me to understand.

* * *

_**Here's another Update! A big thank you goes out to everyone who has reviewed, Favorited and Followed! **_

_**Please review and tell me what you think~!**_


	7. 6: Mikoto

**Chapter Six: Mikoto**

"Naruto, Akiko, it's time to visit Mikoto and Fugaku-san."

Naruto and I nodded, putting out plates away after eating our breakfast. We ran to our room to grab some clothes.

Naru-kun had been with us for two weeks now, and had decided he didn't want a separate room. I was fine with it. He had told me that he was always alone before we met him, and he didn't like it.

So, I had a roomie.

Mama had said he would have to get his own room eventually. It hurt because I knew he'd be getting his own room at Mikoto-sans house, and not here.

So would I.

Naruto grabbed his clothes and went to the bathroom to change, while I got changed in my room.

I pulled a dark blue sundress on, happily touching the crest Mama had added on, over my heart. I loved my clan. Even if they hated me...I loved my family.

I pulled on a pair of matching sandals and hurried out the room, quickly grabbing some toy kunai, knowing this would be a chance to practice with Sasuke-nii. I grabbed Kyo and Un-zipped his back, putting the kunai inside.

Mama liked to sew, so I had asked her to add a small pocket inside my toy fox so I could put stuff inside. He was like my own adorable purse...

Or in this instance, a kunai holder.

Naruto and I raced down stairs to the front door where Mama was waiting.

My brother now wore a dark blue t-shirt and white shorts, much like Sasuke-nii, but Mama had sown a tiny, orange swirl on the hem of his left leg. I was curious as to what it meant.

I had seen a few shinobi with the marking, but no one had ever said anything about it.

He also wore, much to mu amusement, a pair of goggles on his forehead.

We both held one of Mama's hands as she led us through the compound.

A few of the Uchiha gave us the stink-eye, which Naruto and I gladly returned.

With a final hop, skip and a great big jump, we landed on the Uchiha Clan Leader's home. Mama knocked and a few moments later, Mikoto answered the door.

"Hima-chan, Aki-chan!" Shegreeted before she looked down towards Naruto, "Hm? Who's this?"

From the way her shoulders tensed ever so slightly, she seemed to know exactly who he was. I tried not to get angry. Even Mikoto...

"Ah! This is my son, Uzumaki Naruto."

Mikoto's eyes seemed to light up and she looked at the boy with the friendliest smile I had ever seen since Naruto himself.

"Come on in." She said, still smiling. She and Mama had a silent conversation as they walked past each other.

"Mama, can Naru-kun and I play with Sasuke?" I asked, once I spotted the boy in the yard again. He always seemed to be out there.

Mama looked towards Mikoto-san before she nodded. I tugged Naruto along with me as we went outside again.

"Sasuke!" I called, waving.

My not-brother turned around and smiled when he saw us. He lowered the hand he had raised to throw a toy kunai and headed over to us.

"Aki-chan, Naruto!" Sasuke greeted.

"Our Mama said we could come play with you! Naruto-kun and I are going to be shinobi, right Naru-kun?"

"Yeah!" Naruto said, pumping his fist in the air, "I'm going to be Hokage, dattebayo!"

"Wow!" Sasuke said, "You're really that strong?"

That deflated Naru-kun pretty quickly, "Well...not exactly...but someday, everyone in this village is going to respect me! I'm going to be super strong."

"Well, don't expect me to laze around." Sasuke said, "I'm going to be more powerful than Itach-oniisan someday, and he's pretty strong."

"Well, he's no Hokage." Naruto replied with narrowed blue yes.

I snickered before speaking, "Well, you two can try to be as strong as you want. **_I'm going to be stronger than the Sage of Six Paths._**"

I knew the goal was impossible, but I just wanted to join in. Who knows...maybe someday, Itachi-oniisan would become Hokage. Then they'd be real rivals, eh?

They stared at me for a moment in surprise. I then got two reactions.

Naruto: "Who's that?"

Sasuke: "But you're a girl."

I smirked at Sasuke, before I whacked him over the head, "Watch it. One of the legendary Sannin is a girl. She could easily pound any guy into the ground."

"OOW!"

Then, I turned to Naruto, "The Sage of Six Paths was this really powerful guy who showed everyone how to use chakra. He's the strongest person to ever live."

"Whoah...I wanna be that strong."

"Well too bad. You already decided to be Hokage." I said with a taunting grin, "But for now...Naruto-niisan is IT."

I poked his shoulder and took off running across the yard, glad I wore shorts.

I kicked off my sandals part way through the game.

* * *

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

* * *

"Now, let's throw kunai!"

Sasuke and I nodded. while my not-brother went to pick up his toy kunai from the grass, I unzipped Kyo-kun and passed a couple to Naru-kun.

We all turned to look at the row of target's hung up on the fence.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Set?" Naruto added, grinning.

"Go!" Sasuke said loudly before the three of us all threw our kunai.

Sasuke's was the closest to hit the centre of his target, missing by a few centimeters.

My kunai hit a little over the red spot.

Naruto managed to get his kunai dead center. On MY target.

That sent us all into a laughing fit, although Naru-kun was a little embarrassed.

* * *

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

* * *

"Hirarira, hirarirari." I sang under my breath while watching the clouds. Naru-nii and Sasuke-not-nii had both fallen asleep halfway through a game of hide and seek.

It was kinda cute, since they kind just collapsed on each other like a pile of puppies.

I got to my feet and skipped inside after seeing a cloud that reminded me a bit too much of a coffin. It was a dumb reason to go inside...but it reminded me of everything that was coming.

Mama and Mikoto were happily talking to each other, sipping from their tea when I came into the room.

Without a word, I crawled onto my Mama's lap and hugged her. I needed her. It wasn't fair that she was dying. It wasn't right.

Why did everyone die?

How would everyone die?

Would they all end up like they did in my dreams? I couldn't take it.

"Aki-chan...? What's wrong sweety?"

I shook my head, not answering. Instead, I kept my eyes shut and let myself fade into sleep. It was a skill I often used. It was kinda fun, being able to fall asleep almost when ever I wanted. I felt Mama chuckle.

I wasn't completely gone, but they continued talking, "So...will you take both of them?"

"Of course! I'll speak with Fugaku, but I doubt he'll say no. It that boy really Kushina's...?"

"Is there any doubt? He looks exactly like Minato."

"Akiko and Naruto...it's rather scary...isn't it?" Mikoto asked, "They look so much like those two..."

Mama let out a sad sigh, "I know. I walked into their room one night and I thought for a second it really was...Imagine what they'll look like when they grow up?"

"Aki will be beautiful...and Naruto certainly will look like Minato."

"Well, your boys are already quite handsome, so I guess we're even."

The two laughed, but Mama was the first to trail off.

"Miko-chan...do you think you could watch them for the night? I want to speak with the Hokage for a while...Besides...I know how much you want to dress Akiko up."

"Of course." Mikoto said, laughing quietly.

They continued on, but I slipped away before I could really figure out what they were saying.

* * *

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

* * *

I cracked my eyes open, suddenly aware of the arms wrapped around me. Looking through my narrowly open eyes, I saw that I was on someone's stomach. Whoever it was, was laying down on what I believe was a couch.

I was still groggy from my nap, so I closed my eyes, annoyed by the bright red light cast by the setting sun.

I realized who was holding me as I took a deep breath in, ready to let out a sigh.

It was Itachi-oniisan.

I wiggled around so I was able to see my 'cousin'...soon to be older brother.

He woke up the instant he felt someone looking at him, and I offered a small smile before hugging him tightly. Itachi was a shinobi already, so he had to do lots of missions and stuff. Sasuke and I never got to see him.

He was always tired too, so when we did see him, we couldn't play with him.

"Hello Ita-oniisan." I murmured, not bothering to speak clearly.

I didn't bother wondering why he had me, or where Mama was.

"Akiko." He greeted in return, offering a slight smile. It was nothing much, but I had noticed that Itachi never showed a lot of emotion. I guessed it was because he was all...Nin-Nin.

I wiggled out of his graps, rolling onto the floor with a quiet thud. I managed to land on my feet, surprisingly. A good ninja always lands on their feet!

"I wanna show you something!" I said happily, motioning for him to come with me.

My cousin slowly got to his feet, following me. I went into the yard, grabbing a bunch of leaves from a low hanging branch on one of the nearby trees.

I made one leaf sick to my forehead, and then focused more on attaching the others to my fingers.

I grinned happily at him, until I noticed the somewhat startled expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Ita-oniisan?" I asked in confusion, stopping the chakra flow to the leaves, letting them drift uselessly to the ground.

"Who taught you to do that, Aki-chan?" He asked me curiously, not answering my question.

I smiled, "I saw some academy kids doing it so I taught myself!"

Itachi sent me a look that looked somewhat...withered...like a prune person.

I yelped, blinking in shock when I saw that he had flicked my forehead. I stuck my tongue out at him, "What was that for?"

"You can't just play with your chakra like that. You'll get chakra burns. Those kids at the academy are older than you, Akiko. Their chakra systems are more developed than yours."

I sighed, but nodded. I understood what he was saying. "Yes Itachi-oniisan."

"Good job though...You're doing much better compared to other children your age."

I grinned up at him, "I can also throw kunai really good! I get it right on target almost all the time!"

He smiled, "Well...how about we go inside and have some dinner? You must be hungry after all the running around you did with Sasuke and...Naruto."

I giggled, "Yep. They got all tired out and fell asleep waaaaay before I did."

Itachi ruffled my hair before he headed back into the house. I scrambled to keep up with him. Two of my steps was one of his, and he was a fast walker.

We entered the dining room a few moments later where Aunt Mikoto was working on something.

Itachi greeted his mother before he left, probably to go to his room and sleep again. This left me in a very dangerous situation.

I stared at Aunt Mikoto warily, glancing down at the item she was working on. It was a kimono, the rich green colour standing out compared to the dark blues, black and whites most people in the compound wore.

"Hello Akiko-chan, did you have a nice nap?" She asked me, smiling gently.

I nodded slowly, "Yep!"

Aunt Mikoto was my Mama's best friend, and I had been coming to see her for as long as I could remember...

She loved to dress me up, like I was some sort of doll. I knew that if she had a daughter, she would probably never wear the same outfit twice. Mikoto liked making me kimonos and other things by hand.

It was actually a great deal of fun, but there was a part of me that hated the girly-ness of it all. I didn't want to act like such a...civilian. They ran around in those frilly clothes and acted all high and mighty, only to hide behind the nearest ninja when trouble shows up.

By wearing clothing like that, people will naturally judge me and see me as a civilian, instead of a member of the Uchiha clan, and daughter of a kunoichi.

Within moments, I was in the kimono. The green went nicely with my red hair, not clashing as terribly as most reds and greens would. It also brought out the flecks of gold and green that were usually hidden in my dark brown eyes.

Small yellow flowers dotted the fabric while stitched vines and leaves danced across the fabric around them.

Aunt Mikoto was almost squealing like a school girl, although she was much too refined for that. Her happiness was infectious. Almost instantly, I was just as excited as she was.

"So cute!" She said, pulling me closer so she could tie the yellow obi a little tighter.

I giggled happily before an idea entered my mind, "Ah! We should have a tea ceremony!"

"What a good idea!" Mikoto agreed, "Plus, having a tea ceremony will help you be a better kunoichi."

I looked up at her, "How?"

"Well..Kunoichi have to be able to walk into any place and get any job, right? To help her blend in. So, if she knows how to have a proper tea ceremony, she could easily get a job at a tea shop, right?"

I nodded, "And...maybe people with information...would come to meet at a tea shop...right?"

Mikoto beamed, "Ah, you're always surprising everyone. That's correct...You know, Akiko-chan...your mother has told me that you and Naruto-kun want to be shinobi."

I nodded, smiling in excitement. I was going to be super powerful. I already knew why I wanted to be a kunoichi and everything.

"So, how about I teach you how to be a kunoichi? You'll be top of your kunoichi classes when you enter the academy."

The very thought made me jump in place. Everyone would respect me, and they'd all know that I was Uchiha Akiko: Number One Kunoichi in the World! Of course, that would make Naruto-nii the Number One Shinobi in the World, since we were siblings. It only made sense.

"Yes please!"

* * *

_**The song Akiko was singing was Hatsune Miku's 'Hirari Hirari'**_

_**Thank you to everyone who had reviewed, favourited and followed this story so far! Please continue to show your support!**_


	8. 7: Uchiha Kaito

**Chapter Seven: Uchiha Kaito**

A few days after Mikoto began teaching me how to be a kunoichi, Mama, Naru-kun and I began to notice a few changes around the compound.

Before my brother came along, the only person in our clan, besides Mikoto, Fugaku, Shisui, Itachi and Sasuke, that liked us was a man named Kaito.

He liked Mama. A lot. Like...he-kinda-wants-to-marry-her-but-she's-totally-oblivious-of-his-feelings kinda 'like'.

Or at least that's wha he told me when he asked me what my Mama liked. I found it odd that he'd pour all his feelings on a three year old. My guess was that he was on the Prune-People side.

Old people are wierd. Why didn't he just ask her out or something?

Of course, I didn't see what was so important about going outside with someone...but some of the teenagers in town were always talking about asking someone out, so it must have meant something.

_'I wonder if Ita-oniisan has ever gone out with a girl before...'_ I thought to myself.

Besides Kaito liking Mama, Naru-kun and I, we also noticed that people weren't openly yelling at us anymore...in fact...

It was like none of us existed to them.

Life was a little lonely.

But, Kaito came over alot more often.

"Who's that guy?" Naruto asked me, as we sat on the staircase, peeking between the bars of the railing, watching Mama greet Kaito.

"That's Uchiha Kaito...he's one of the few Uchiha who work as regular ninjas. Most of us work as police."

"Why's he here?"

_**"He wants to go out with Mama."**_ I replied on 'Sammy', knowing Mama could hear us whispering...since she was all...Nin-nin. I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

"**_What is...so...g-gre-great ab-about go-ing outside?_**" Naruto asked in a slow, hesitant voice, stuttering over the words in 'Sammy'.

It was always amusing.

"I'm not sure." I answered, switching back to our normal language.

"Huh."

"He comes over a lot...sometimes he brings flowers...now a days it's chocolates." I continued on, "Sometimes he brings me toys too!"

"Awesome!" He grinned, "Do ya think he'll bring me something too?"

"Sooner or later, yeah...if he wants to go out wih my Mama." I replied firmly, watching the tall man like a hawk as he brushed a piece of Mama's blond hair from her face.

Part of me didn't like him. Another part said Mama deserved him.

Part of me felt like he was trying to push Papa out of the picture...

The other part scoffed and told me to grow up. Mama shouldn't have to stay alone, just because I was clinging onto the memory of a person I didn't even have a memory of.

Mama looked happy enough.

From where I was sitting, I could see the happy, but kinda shy smile on her face. Her cheeks were a little red and she was fidgetting a bit, but she was happy.

I was glad...

She was sick...so she needed to be as happy as possible while she still could be.

"Naruto, it's time to start Operation-Make-Mama-And-Kaito-Fall-In-Love!"

Naru-kun nodded before his eyebrows furrowed, "**Fa-rrrrr. Farrr...Farr...LLLLLLLLL. Fa-llll...FALL!**"

I clapped happily, "You finally for the '**_L_**' sound right!"

"I got it! I got it! Dattebayo!" He cheered. I quickly shushed him before glancing back at Mama.

She and Kaito were watching us with content smiles. My eyes glanced down to their hands, which were clasped together.

'**_Oh wow...when did I miss that?_**' I asked myself, barely noticing the fact that it came out in 'Sammy'. '**_When did they get that close?_**'

* * *

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

* * *

Our plan to get Mama in a relationship seemed to fail at every corner. First, no jewelry store would sell us a pretty enough engagement ring for some weird reason.

Then, Mama and Kaito kept telling us to go play with Sasuke-nii, who showed up half an hour after Kaito came.

"So...why are we trying to get Kaito to marry Aunt Himawari?" He asked for the third time.

Naru-kun and I snorted and my brother spoke, "Because..."

I look crossed his face and he looked to me in confusion.

"They're absolutely ADORABLE together." I explained. It was the simplest reason in all the Elemental Countries.

_"Plus_ Mama told me that when a man and a woman love each other very much, they have babies! I want a sister this time, since I got stuck with three brothers." I added as an after-thought, "Not that I don't love you guys."

Naruto's face scrunched up, "Love is gross."

I gasped, staring at him in horror, "Naru-kun! That's like saying ramen doesn't taste good! Or that the _Hokage is the weakest shinobi in the world!"_

Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other, but I wasn't done.

"It's like saying...saying...it's like saying that the only perpose ninjas have is to do D-rank missions for those crummy civilians!" I continued on, "Without love, none of us would be alive right now! Love is the reason ninja fight to protect this village- because we love our home and all the people in it!"

Naruto and Sasuke stared at me, dumb-founded, before my blond brother began to clap.

I bowed quickly, ignoring a thought that entered my mind and made me want to freeze. '**_It's like saying Tobi is _****not****_ a good boy._**'

I shook my head to get rid of the lollipop man from my nightmares.

"This is why Mama and Kaito _must_ fall in love."

Sasuke raised his hand, as though afraid to speak out of turn. I think I finally trained one of my brothers.

"Yes, Sasuke-nii?"

"I think they're already in love."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah...they left five minutes ago on a date. They told me to tell you."

I looked over to Naru-kun, "Naruto! Do you know what this means?"

"No...what?"

"OUR PLAN WORKED! WE DID SUCH A PROFESSIONAL JOB, WE DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE IT WAS WORKING!"

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered and we high-fived each other, grinning.

* * *

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

* * *

We spent the night at Sasuke-nii's house, since Mama and Kaito wouldn't be coming home for a while. Aunt Mikoto looked very excited when I told her they were going out.

I still didn't see the big deal of going outside alone with someone.

Uncle Fugaku wasn't as used to Naruto-kun as Mikoto, so he spent most of dinner staring at him as Naruto and I chattered on about how we were doing at home.

I noticed Aunt Mikoto flinched whenever Naruto let slip a 'Dattebayo' in his excitement.

Adults were weird.

* * *

*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*!~-_-~!*

* * *

Mama picked us up the next morning, with a massive smile on her face. Mikoto teased her about something, making her blush before we left.

"Mama..." I began, looking up to her as we walked back home, "Are you in love with Kaito?"

She stumbled for a moment, and looked down at us. Naruto and I grinned up at her cheekily.

A pink tinge began to cover her face, and it continued to darken over time.

"Ah- Well- Uh...STOP GRINNNING LIKE THAT!" She whined loudly, and refused to look at us.

My brother and I snickered. Mama was so cute.

"When are you getting married?!" Naruto asked, and once again Mama stumbled.

She was very clutzy for an ex-kunoichi.

"We're not going to- It's too early for us to be thinking about- Why am I telling you two this?" She asked us, looked at us with a questioning expression.

"Because you love us?"

"Cheeky little brats." Mama sighed, "You're too young to be asking me when I'm getting married...go back to thinking boys and girls have cooties, both of you."

Naruto paused, "Wait...girls have cooties?!"

"Eew...I touched Naruto...now I have his cooties!" I whined, wiping my hands off on Mama's shirt while Naruto leapt away from me.

"GROSS!" We cried out in sync before running ahead of Mama and into our home.

* * *

_**So...I think I made Tobi sound like a pedophile in this chapter by accident.**_

_**That aside-**_

_**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorite and followed this story. **_

_**Please review and I hope you have enjoyed this chapter~! **_


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